Any other barefooters struggling with persistent hard ground?

[Floofball]

My lad is, he’s gone footy all round. Boots needed all round for any work apart from the beach and feet gone down a boot size! Can’t bring myself to boot up 24/7 because of the heat but think his feet are just wearing down too quickly. Trimmer says lots of horses struggling atm. Waiting to organise maintenance veterinary treatments but they can’t get the full picture while he’s footsore so finding myself a bit stuck. Hopefully got a remedial farrier coming out to assess soon, so he may end up with shoes back on if he thinks they’re needed (he’s very much pro barefoot so will appreciate his feedback)
Anyone else in a similar situation?

 

[Highmileagecob]

My cob is now rising 28, fully retired but has always been barefoot. He's out 24/7, but I have noticed his hooves are growing fast enough to need a maintenance trim between regular 6 week trims. Our oldies in the herd are throwing abscesses too. I can only think the stressed pasture is having an effect, but that is just my opinion. I have been standing the cob with his hooves in shallow buckets of Dettol solution whilst grooming him - he finds this cooling on a hot day, and it gives the hoof a chance to soften and stretch. He only has one ridge line way down each hoof, which would tie in with summer turn out, but has had repeated thrush episodes all summer which cause him to be footy.

 

[Marigold4]

My lad is, he’s gone footy all round. Boots needed all round for any work apart from the beach and feet gone down a boot size! Can’t bring myself to boot up 24/7 because of the heat but think his feet are just wearing down too quickly. Trimmer says lots of horses struggling atm. Waiting to organise maintenance veterinary treatments but they can’t get the full picture while he’s footsore so finding myself a bit stuck. Hopefully got a remedial farrier coming out to assess soon, so he may end up with shoes back on if he thinks they’re needed (he’s very much pro barefoot so will appreciate his feedback)
Anyone else in a similar situation?

Me! My German Riding pony keeps losing chunks of his hoof wall. So his feet are really short now. Not ideal, but I'm turning out in all 4 boots and taking them off for 6 hours a day when he is stabled. I moisurise his feet too. He's still rideable in field but i daren't go hacking as there are stony tracks to cross.

 

[webble]

Yes mine is footy and has a few surface cracks

 

[Gloi]

I've been using Hoof Armour rather than booting this summer and it has worked well in the dry weather. It took a few applications to really get to peak performance but I've had no wear problems . I don't think if I'll be able to get his feet dry enough to use it through the winter but I'll try.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Mine has been wearing down a lot of foot recently, we've been barefoot nearly 2yrs now and this hasn't ever happened before.

We are not going back to shoes tho'!! No way. I'm looking for a suitable pair of boots for her just to tide her over for a bit; we tried Flex but the dang things kept coming off and/or shifting on her foot. Had the fitting-shells to try and Scoots came up the best fit so am looking for a pair of size 4's at the price I'm happy with right now.

 

[shortstuff99]

None of mine have been footy but they have been taking some chunks out at times due to the hard ground and dry weather.

 

[Surbie]

Feet have been largely ok - a couple of bits of wall have split off, and one large chunk on a hind, but no terrible changes. He was trimmed 2 days after the major rainfall here, and the farrier took off quite a bit of false sole that was coming off and shedding frog - normally that would have happened a few months ago.

He's gone a little bit footy, but I am putting that doen to the grass flush after the rain.

Caveat is that mine is barely ridden at the moment, so not having to do much other than walk in and out along a stony track to the field.

 

[Glitterandrainbows]

Mine has been really footy and as we have a lot of stones on the yard own considering changing to shoes as it’s awful having to walk her across stones when she’s footy

 

[ITPersonnage]

Mine shedding sole & frog like crazy since the rain, possibly brewing an abcess this morning

 

[Widgeon]

My horse is shod and is struggling. He has excellent feet, he's only shod because of our many rubble tracks - shoes work for us so I was loath to change his management. However months of rock hard uneven ground are taking their toll and he's now sore on the front :-(He's also been shedding lumps of frog and whole sheets of false sole that I have to prise off with a hoofpick. I normally ask the farrier to leave his frogs alone but she'll need to tidy them up next time - I've been snipping off the worst flappy bits with scissors. I've never seen his feet like this before.

(This makes them sound dreadful - they're not, it's just a bit of a shock as he's normally got rock solid, very tidy feet. This summer has not been kind to them. I was very relieved to see this thread as it's comforting to see we're not the only ones struggling more than usual)

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I've been using Hoof Armour rather than booting this summer and it has worked well in the dry weather. It took a few applications to really get to peak performance but I've had no wear problems . I don't think if I'll be able to get his feet dry enough to use it through the winter but I'll try.

I've been using hoof amour as well and his been ok apart from 1 really hard stony track which he struggles a bit on but I get off on that.

His hoof wall has chipped in places but they are not terrible.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

For barefooters in the UK a good FB group if you're interested is "Barefoot Horse Owners Group UK". Really great supportive and informative group.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

DP has been a little footy even though he has been on minimal grass as the track is just dust and his feet look great, however B who is now in Duplos in front only after pulling a hind and taking a good chunk of foot with it is on Pea Protein as the horn is diabolical. Same balancer, chaff, Biotin, salt and hay and two sets of feet in very different condition. The only thing they have in common is both have shed a huge amount of false sole and frog since we had rain.

 

[paddy555]

mine have been OK but I have a policy in this weather (ie the last 2 months of this drought) of not trimming, not removing sole, frog or anything else. I let it come out of it's own accord.
The feet might not look picture perfect but the horses seem OK on them.

I suspect that if I had trimmed them in the normal way they may have ended up footsore but those are only my thoughts.

 

[SEL]

Having a nightmare with one of mine - farrier couldn't trim him last time round because his feet were just too hard. I tried a poultice but found it abandoned in a field (and child size 4 nappies don't cover much of an Ardennes hoof it seems) and also tried painting on hoof softener.

Last week's rain definitely helped shift a lump of retained sole but he's still really sore. I can see another lump which I think is acting like some form of callous and its built up over his bars which won't be helping. He's now massively overloading the other foot and that's starting to crack. I need more rain fairly urgently - no chance of him standing with feet in water.

The Appy was only trimmed 2 weeks ago but she had so much retained sole which is now coming off it looks like she hasn't been touched for weeks so I need to find my rasp. Her frogs are enormous but have tended to come off in one fell swoop before - in which case she'll need boots for a while.

I'm a bit bleugh about the barefoot FB groups. I tend to find them so far down their own personal rabbit holes that the ability to have a decent discussion about something just turns into a cliquey bitching session - 'well MY horse is fine in this weather and stomping over rocks so if yours isn't then obviously its YOUR fault and you aren't feeding the right grasses pulled from bavarian mountains by fairies' ..... etc

 

[Red-1]

Rigs is fine, he is mainly turned out on road planings, with access to his stable and out in the field for 6-8 hours a day.

Our farrier likes a less is more approach and his are still fabulous. That said, he isn't in any actual work!

If he were footy all round, I would be concerned about the dreaded lami.

 

[Gloi]

I've been using hoof amour as well and his been ok apart from 1 really hard stony track which he struggles a bit on but I get off on that.

His hoof wall has chipped in places but they are not terrible.

I've found I need to keep a good roll on them to stop them chipping but any chips have only been small cosmetic ones nothing giving a problem. He is sometimes turned out on a rough stone track to tidy the verges and gets bits of chips from that and I tidy them up. We ride on quite a lot of stone lanes and he copes well. I give him a coat every 2-3 weeks while he is doing quite a bit of hacking.

 

[Floofball]

DP has been a little footy even though he has been on minimal grass as the track is just dust and his feet look great, however B who is now in Duplos in front only after pulling a hind and taking a good chunk of foot with it is on Pea Protein as the horn is diabolical. Same balancer, chaff, Biotin, salt and hay and two sets of feet in very different condition. The only thing they have in common is both have shed a huge amount of false sole and frog since we had rain.

Hadn’t heard of Duplos, just had a look and they’re very interesting ? thanks for posting ??

 

[Boulty]

Well you've made me feel validated in the struggle I've been having with mine. He knocked some large chunks out of the fronts a few months ago despite only being a few weeks post trim so started taking a little bit off with a radius rasp every few weeks to stop them chipping any more whilst growing out & we've nearly reached the end of that now. White lines still not great though. Did try hoof armor (mostly to help the white line) & whilst it's made things a little better I've still ended up resorting to boots as he's not long backed & still learning about forwards & also we've a lot of stoney hacking so less chips & less crap in his white line (still not sure I've found "the one" there as he doesn't seem confident with the grip in the Cabello trek which trimmer thinks he's breaking over better in than the equine fusions I was also trying). He's also too fat despite muzzle & coming in during day which I'm sure is isn't helping either. Praying that moving him to a track will help & that we'll be in a better position next summer! Not she'd much sole yet & he probably needs to although that will probably make him footy again (god knows why when the PPID one I used to own whose soles were normally on the thin side seemed capable of shedding huge chunks & not noticing! Said horse was normally at his soundest during extended dry periods as well)

 

[Barton Bounty]

Having a nightmare with one of mine - farrier couldn't trim him last time round because his feet were just too hard. I tried a poultice but found it abandoned in a field (and child size 4 nappies don't cover much of an Ardennes hoof it seems) and also tried painting on hoof softener.

Last week's rain definitely helped shift a lump of retained sole but he's still really sore. I can see another lump which I think is acting like some form of callous and its built up over his bars which won't be helping. He's now massively overloading the other foot and that's starting to crack. I need more rain fairly urgently - no chance of him standing with feet in water.

The Appy was only trimmed 2 weeks ago but she had so much retained sole which is now coming off it looks like she hasn't been touched for weeks so I need to find my rasp. Her frogs are enormous but have tended to come off in one fell swoop before - in which case she'll need boots for a while.

I'm a bit bleugh about the barefoot FB groups. I tend to find them so far down their own personal rabbit holes that the ability to have a decent discussion about something just turns into a cliquey bitching session - 'well MY horse is fine in this weather and stomping over rocks so if yours isn't then obviously its YOUR fault and you aren't feeding the right grasses pulled from bavarian mountains by fairies' ..... etc

What about trying tena pants for adults? Might work ?

 

[Floofball]

Thanks for the replies all ??

Touchwood he’s never had lami @Red-1 he used to be metabolic and have always been paranoid about it but there’s no pulses ??

I‘m happy to do whatever keeps him comfiest and moving well.
He has mild arthritic changes in a few places that I thought were being aggravated by the hard ground but it has become obvious that he is footsore so need to address this first, then see where we’re at. I’m really looking forward to the remedial farriers feedback - maybe there are new things to try - maybe he won’t need any further (joint) treatments ??
Unfortunately said farrier is away for another week so I’ll get some hoof armour in the meantime.
Love this forum and it’s wealth of knowledge and experience ?

 

[SEL]

What about trying tena pants for adults? Might work ?

I may have asked in the co-op for the largest nappies they had - may not have remembered to tell them why.

Will be getting funny looks in there for ever more I suspect.

 

[Barton Bounty]

I may have asked in the co-op for the largest nappies they had - may not have remembered to tell them why.

Will be getting funny looks in there for ever more I suspect.

I was too honest one day in the chemist for golden eye ointment! For bbs eye when a fly went in it , she said im not supposed to sell you this now youv told me what its for!
she asked .. i told her, got it anyway lol

 

[paddy555]

I'm a bit bleugh about the barefoot FB groups. I tend to find them so far down their own personal rabbit holes that the ability to have a decent discussion about something just turns into a cliquey bitching session - 'well MY horse is fine in this weather and stomping over rocks so if yours isn't then obviously its YOUR fault and you aren't feeding the right grasses pulled from bavarian mountains by fairies' ..... etc

you're so polite. I would have put up their own personal backsides.

I got thrown off one and have never ventured near again.
What works for one situation doesn't work for another and you have to constantly experiment to see what works best for you.

 

[Gloi]

I had lots of problems with stones in the white line but with the hoof Armour that seems totally fixed. It did take a couple of months and a few coats to get full benefit but his white lines are now totally solid and seem stone proof. Something I eventually discovered was that coating heel bulbs helped on stony tracks. Didn't try it at first but now coat frog and heel bulbs and he is better on rough stone tracks.

 

[Barton Bounty]

I had lots of problems with stones in the white line but with the hoof Armour that seems totally fixed. It did take a couple of months and a few coats to get full benefit but his white lines are now totally solid and seem stone proof. Something I eventually discovered was that coating heel bulbs helped on stony tracks. Didn't try it at first but now coat frog and heel bulbs and he is better on rough stone tracks.

Ive just taken bbs back shoes off, is hoof armour something that will help him? Ive mo experience of barefoot

 

[Gloi]

Ive just taken bbs back shoes off, is hoof armour something that will help him? Ive mo experience of barefoot

Don't expect miracles but yes, I find it good. I've found it takes a few applications and a bit of time to get full effect. I gave up first time I tried it as it wasn't working as well as I hoped after two coats but with regular use it has really helped. It only needs a very thin coat as thicker coats will chip off. I get about 16 pony hooves from a tube.

 

[Barton Bounty]

Don't expect miracles but yes, I find it good. I've found it takes a few applications and a bit of time to get full effect. I gave up first time I tried it as it wasn't working as well as I hoped after two coats but with regular use it has really helped. It only needs a very thin coat as thicker coats will chip off. I get about 16 pony hooves from a tube.

Thank you so much ?

 

[Floofball]

I was too honest one day in the chemist for golden eye ointment! For bbs eye when a fly went in it , she said im not supposed to sell you this now youv told me what its for!
she asked .. i told her, got it anyway lol

I may have asked in the co-op for the largest nappies they had - may not have remembered to tell them why.

Will be getting funny looks in there for ever more I suspect.

I remember going in the chemist asking for benzoyl bensoate for my Clyde X’s itchy fetlocks - didn’t have a clue it was a treatment for human crabs - the look on the chemists face when he asked me how much I wanted and I said a pint!! ??‍ ? well he was a massive horse!!!